Bruce Springsteen was just one minute into his unannounced appearance with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul at the Stony Pony’s WhyHunger benefit show on Sunday evening when the fire alarm began blaring, the lights turned on, and the music came to a confused halt. Springsteen was leading the band through the 1976 Southside Johnny classic “I Don’t Want to Go Home” when the alarm hit, and the audience of Springsteen fanatics had no intention of going home or even exiting the building since it was evident there was no fire or any sort of danger beyond the usual madness that erupts when Springsteen pops up at the Pony.

For the next six minutes, E Street Band touring percussionist Anthony Almonte kept a rhythm going while the excited crowd sang bits of “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” and Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party,” and a grinning Springsteen paced around the room, received updates from crew members, briefly banged on Almonte’s kit, and waited for the situation to resolve itself.

By that point in the evening, the crowd had already seen sets by Young the Giant, Amy Helm, Yola, the Smithereens, Steve Chapin and the Original Harry Chapin Band, and Danny Clinch. They all came together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of WhyHunger, which was founded by Harry Chapin and continued by his family following his death in 1981.

Springsteen’s appearance wasn’t a huge shock considering his close association with WhyHunger over the decades, and the presence of Van Zandt and E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent on the bill. And once the fire alarm turned off and the lights dimmed, he launched right back into “I Don’t Want to Go Home.” “I know it’s time to go, but I don’t want to go home,” Springsteen sang, “I don’t care if that fuckin’ fire alarm goes off!”

The wonderful chaos continued when the band followed it up with the opening bells of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” before Van Zandt stopped them and held up ten fingers, indicating that he wanted “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” instead. It was a short, unique rendition of the Born to Run standard with Van Zandt and Springsteen sharing lead vocals. When it wrapped, the band kicked into “Merry Christmas Baby.”

“Steve, what now?” Springsteen asked as the song was winding down. “What do we do now? We didn’t rehearse! No rehearsal! We don’t need it!” Van Zand told him they were going to transition into the “other song.” “I don’t know how,” said Van Zandt. “But we’re going to do it right now.”

The “other song” could only be “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” And they stretched it out for a glorious ten minutes. (By coincidence, the performance came just two days after the 50th anniversary of Springsteen’s famous rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” at C. W. Post College in Brookville, New York, that was released as a B-side to “My Hometown” in 1984, and has since become a holiday staple.)